A spirited motivator and master in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics, Dr Qureshi started his career as a computer programmer in 1980 and joined NILORE in 1983 as a fellow after a span of three years. Dr Qureshi came towards teaching profession in 1984 and joined the University of Karachi. He is also engaged as a faculty member at IBA.

Having received his PhD in 2008, he worked in astrophysics and astronomy, on the scientific aspect of the earliest sighting of the moon, being the first ever attempt in core astronomy, in Pakistan. His MPhil work covered the area of quantum mechanics, called supersymmetry quantum mechanics, related to elementary particle physics.

The doctor elaborates “The well-known grand unification theory had two directions of research in the 1980s and '90s. The supersymmetry theory appeared as one of the results. The empirical predictions of which, could not be tested till today, due to the absence of laboratories. We will be able to test some predictions of the supersymmetry theory when the Large Hadron Collider functions at its full capability.”

He further shares “In this regard, my main area of interest, academically and aesthetically, has remained to explore the nature of forces in the first place and of course which is closely related to cosmology, in which we describe the structure of the universe. So the other aspect of my research was astronomy.”

Dr Qureshi interestingly reflects “My guiding force is in my blood. My parents inculcated the lust for knowledge and learning within their children. Iqbal's poetry filled my ears from the very beginning. My father was an authority on Iqbal's poetry. Work and learning was the norm for me since my childhood.”

Focusing on his specialised fields, Dr Qureshi says “Astrophysics and astronomy are two most neglected fields in our society. With the exception of some people in SUPARCO, no one here is working in core areas of astronomy and astrophysics.

“There is an age up till when man is a pure dreamer. When it's over, he starts thinking. People are more practical now and are working in applied fields like satellite communication and remote sensing. My own interest is moving towards solar energy,” he says.

Dr Qureshi views the types of possible investments in these fields as financial, technological and human. The third one is to be stressed the most. He says “As I see it, presently people are not coming towards fundamental sciences. We are not investing properly in motivating our young generation to study basic sciences. The students here are more inclined towards market trends without paying much heed to their own aptitude.”

He laments “In 1990, one of my professors said that very soon Pakistan will be asking the world to send us teachers to teach mathematics as we ran out of them. Today I am forwarding his message we do not have teachers to teach mathematics and physics.

“Pakistan is a buyer of technology, and the seller never gives first grade technology. We cannot become the producers of technology unless we become the producers of mathematics. Then we can also take a step ahead in physics.”

He analyses “If we are not in a position to teach mathematics and physics properly, we will not even be able to produce good engineers. SUPARCO, Atomic Energy Commission and other such assets may face a drought-like condition then.”

Presenting his intellectual approach, the doctor emphasises “In my view, in both natural and social sciences, philosophy tops in the hierarchy of knowledge. A philosopher finds answers to the fundamental questions. Mathematics provides a language to it. I am able to write my physics on the basis of that language.

“If the proposal of Maxwell that electric and magnetic forces are exhibits of the same thing (first step of unification) was not generated in 1850, we could not have been enjoying the modern technology today,” he justifies.

“The resultant technology of our physics today may develop after 50 to 60 years, so my motivating my young students may mean something later,” he points out.

“We have started a project with promising coordination from the Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq to design the syllabus of government schools in order to introduce astronomy from the elementary to secondary level and up to intermediate,” he says.

“Since the work of Muslim astronomers in the early period till the 15th century saw a decline, we today have a poor knowledge of the benefits of astronomy. SUPARCO's missile programme is an example of that. Missile targeting is a precise knowledge of where I am, what I have to hit and where is that? In the case of SUPARCO's missile programme, the target used to be 30 to 50 ms out. The problem was solved by an astronomer indicating that the alignment with the North Star was faulty as the star is not exactly in the north,” he explains.

Dr Qureshi further shares “Although we do have links with international universities and organisations for research and academic purposes, there are certain sensitive areas such as nuclear science for the obvious geo-political reasons, space science for missile technology and computing science for the security systems. We never get first hand latest information in these three.” Speaking about their ongoing projects, Dr Qureshi said “The project is to explore and describe the phenomenon of depletion of sky visibility. I am not able to see my sky ... I am not able to see many stars. Light pollution is a major factor to restrict the scope of astronomy.”

He indicates “From Karachi to Islamabad there is a belt of 150-200kms that accommodates so much light pollution that the sky which I used to see from Karachi University in 1979 is no longer visible throughout the belt. The Milky Way galaxy is no longer visible from any part of our city.

“Still, in my own area of crescent visibility, we have extended some work. The historical evidences which we get from Muslim Arabs till the classical work of the 20th century, is of Educationist

empirical nature. Astrophysics ran into this problem after 1977. Our main theme is to explore the effects of atmospheric conditions on crescent visibility, which, I partly covered in my PhD.

“Other projects are of theoretical nature, some of my students have started work on stellar evolution, and the evolution of the universe, in general. I anticipate that at some stage we may get stuck technologically, but we are at least preparing ground with theoretical skills for the future students to proceed with better technology.”

Dr Qureshi proudly reflects “This is the reason why I say that my responsibility is to produce best undergraduates. Other parameters for level of research and practical work in the university are not in my hands.”

The man of vision talks about his dream of national observatory in Pakistan and expresses his optimism. He says “Despite all the friction in our organisational structures and general behaviour of society, I think that if I am a person who has a vision and capability to promote astrophysics and astronomy in Pakistan, then my biggest contribution would be to produce even better people to do this work. Human contribution for me is most important and there is always hope if I have visionaries there.”